What they tell me matters more than what I'd say about myself.
They tell me I listen well, and that it shows I care. And more than anything else, they tell me about the explanations — that nobody has explained things in "that way" before.
Every relationship starts the same way: a plain-language conversation about where you want to end up, a factual look at where you stand today, and a specific written plan connecting the two. No pressure to commit before you've seen it.